Author Topic: Skies of Arcadia - best GC RPG (Read 24228 times)

baberg · « **on:** February 01, 2003, 09:56:07 PM »

Skies of Arcadia: Legends is the best RPG for the Gamecube. Of course, when the competition is Phantasy Star Online, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, and Lost Kingdoms, it's not very hard to pick a winner in the classic RPG sense. But SoAL is still a terrific old-school RPG.

All the classic RPG standards are here - strange woman whose origins are unknown, magic-wielders, and the underdogs taking on the evil empire. But the flair of the game is different from any other games I've known. It's not hyper-futuristic like FF7, and it's not hyper-medieval like Dragon Warrior 7. It truly is a land of its own.

I don't wanna start getting this into a review-like format, so I'll just urge anybody who enjoys RPGs to check this one out. Because it's not especially difficult, I would also consider this an excellent choice for the entry-level RPGer. This could be the game that hooks you on RPGs forever.

Zach Adams · « **Reply #1 on:** February 01, 2003, 10:11:35 PM »

Arrggg... I have been trying to get my hands on this forever. No money yet, I think I will sell a few games though. Just the way he holds his sword and does that freakin cool "Rain of Swords" move is enough to get the game...

nitsu niflheim · « **Reply #2 on:** February 02, 2003, 05:53:35 AM »

I loved this game when it was on the Dreamcast, it was the sole reason for me getting the game. And I love it on the GameCube. I can't really tell any difference graphic-wise between the two versions. But then again I am not a graphic whore. I appreciate nice looking graphics, but what I want more is a game to go along with it, and Skies of Arcadia Legends gives both IMO. If I didn't already have a GCN, I would go out and buy one just for this game even though I already played it two years ago.

Chris150 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 02, 2003, 06:35:39 AM »

I can't stop playing this game. Yesterday I played it from noon to midnight without stopping. I'm giving my gamecube alot of abuse...

So far my favorite moves are the Cutlass Fury and the Royal Blade. Rain of swords looks cool but it's too costly for me.

Aretak · « **Reply #4 on:** February 02, 2003, 07:15:55 AM »

I haven't played the GameCube version yet, but I have the Dreamcast version and it's pretty awesome. I just hope Overworks start work on a sequel now...

nolimit19 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 02, 2003, 10:24:40 AM »

i couldnt find it anywhere so i bought it online today. i will have it in a week. its my 1st rpg on a console since my sega genisis days.

SoftShell · « **Reply #6 on:** February 02, 2003, 10:29:45 AM »

I bought it just a few days ago. Only had the chance to play for 1 hr. So far I like the look, tho a bit blocky and the characters seem cool. The intro was really neat and the ships are damn cool looking. I haven't played an RPG in ages on a console. I can't wait to build up my characters and get into some real battles RPG style.

baberg · « **Reply #7 on:** February 02, 2003, 10:34:18 AM »

The rumor I've heard is that Overworks will develop a sequel to Skies of Arcadia if sales of the Gamecube game are high enough. It's just a rumor, though, and I have no way of verifying that it's true. But the prospects for Skies selling well are high. There's a severe lack of classic RPGs on the Gamecube, so the audience is there. The game is very good. The game also has a following from the Dreamcast days, and plenty of information is available on the game.

Here's to hope...

ShanD · « **Reply #8 on:** February 02, 2003, 12:27:49 PM »

I'd buy it, but I need more money. The money I have now is put over for Zelda.

popkorn1 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 02, 2003, 12:38:23 PM »

Ok, bare with me for a minute.. I've never played this game and know nothing about it. It seems like it's exciting a ton of people, and the screenshots I've seen look awesome. Now, I've never really been into standard RPGs .. the closest thing I've loved was just Zelda in general, which brings me to my question. How closely does this game compare to Zelda OOT? Or is it more of a standard RPG with turn based battles?

WhoDey · « **Reply #10 on:** February 02, 2003, 01:06:07 PM »

I'll be picking up Skies as soon as I get through Resident Evil 0. Seeing as how I just started that game and can't kick my addiction to Animal Crossing, I hope I get to it before Zelda comes out. I'll be buying, just not sure when.

I've also seen the reports about a sequel depending on the sales of this game. I have my doubts that this game will sell well. It just seems that if it's not from Nintendo, games just don't sell well on the Cube. I guess it just depends on what Sega considers good sales. I hope it does well but it will fight an uphill battle the whole way.

ShanD · « **Reply #11 on:** February 02, 2003, 01:14:06 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: popkorn1
Ok, bare with me for a minute.. I've never played this game and know nothing about it. It seems like it's exciting a ton of people, and the screenshots I've seen look awesome. Now, I've never really been into standard RPGs .. the closest thing I've loved was just Zelda in general, which brings me to my question. How closely does this game compare to Zelda OOT? Or is it more of a standard RPG with turn based battles?

It's definatly much MUCH more of a standard RPG. The battles are practicly nothing like Zelda's.

Aretak · « **Reply #12 on:** February 02, 2003, 01:19:21 PM »

It's nothing like Zelda really. If you've played a Final Fantasy game then you should know roughly what to expect from Skies Of Arcadia.

If you haven't then, well...I'm pleased to meet the one person on the planet who hasn't.

alexzman · « **Reply #13 on:** February 02, 2003, 01:47:00 PM »

I got it on Wednesday, and I usualy dont get into RPG's, but I love this game.

And I'm thinking it will sell pretty good. I got the last copy the second day it was out. Hpoefully 2 will come to the GameCube.

baberg · « **Reply #14 on:** February 02, 2003, 03:04:52 PM »

As those above me have said, Skies is nothing like Zelda. Zelda focuses on action, Skies focuses on stats and strategies. In Zelda you have to maneuver your character to attack, in Skies you just tell the character to attack. Both of them have their place, but there's not much crossover.

The comparison to Final Fantasy is right on, but not to Final Fantasy X. FFX is much more linear than Skies. Skies goes back to the mantra "You can go anywhere, but you don't want to go to this island because you'll get killed by the monsters."

Plus, it's very entertaining to watch - the battles have good movement and action, and the story is great.

FFantasyFX · « **Reply #15 on:** February 02, 2003, 03:21:54 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: WhoDey
I've also seen the reports about a sequel depending on the sales of this game. I have my doubts that this game will sell well. It just seems that if it's not from Nintendo, games just don't sell well on the Cube. I guess it just depends on what Sega considers good sales. I hope it does well but it will fight an uphill battle the whole way.

Not quite true. Good, exclusive 3rd party games on the Gamecube do reasonably well. Examples:

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 2 -- about 650,000
Sonic Adventure Battle 2 -- slightly over 500,000 (over 1 million worldwide)
Resident Evil -- about 400,000 (over 1 million worldwide)
Resident Evil 0 -- about 250,000
Super Monkey Ball -- about 250,000
Sonic Mega Collection -- about 200,000
Super Monkey Ball 2 -- over 100,000

Given the dearth of good RPGs on the Cube and the exclusive nature of Skies of Arcadia, I'm predicting that the game will sell at least 200,000 copies. So, I see the game being a modest success in the U.S. What's worrisome is the game's lackluster reception in Japan, where it basically bombed.

Never even cracked the Top 50 chart for a week.

popkorn1 · « **Reply #16 on:** February 02, 2003, 04:33:08 PM »

Okay, so it's much more of an RPG, thanks for the clarification guys.

I've never really played any kind of "real RPG" ... so maybe this game would be a good game to begin with. I think I'll pick it up once I get my paws on some more money. (Damn college and car payments. Damn it all.)

Mingesium · « **Reply #17 on:** February 02, 2003, 04:44:54 PM »

Quote
I'm predicting that the game will sell at least 200,000 copies

Skies of Arcadia sold about 100,000 copies on DC. I expect the same type of numbers on the GCN.

kj01 · « **Reply #18 on:** February 02, 2003, 04:55:39 PM »

Quote
Skies of Arcadia: Legends is the best RPG for the Gamecube. Of course, when the competition is Phantasy Star Online, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, and Lost Kingdoms, it's not very hard to pick a winner in the classic RPG sense.

I'll take PSO.

But I'm probably going to buy SOA:L, as well.

Odin · « **Reply #19 on:** February 02, 2003, 08:17:01 PM »

Considering that there are no other decent (single player) RPGs on the GCN, I would say that Skies of Arcadia is a must buy. I still haven't bought Lost Kingdoms, I'm kinda waiting for the sequel. I enjoyed the Dreamcast version of SoA, and I can't wait for the next one (If it ever comes out.) It's not easy being an RPG Nintendo fan. I have no high expectations for FF:CC, I kind of expect it to suck. I don't like the idea of changing the formula so much. SoA is the RPG for me, at least for now.

"Sky" · « **Reply #20 on:** February 02, 2003, 10:09:21 PM »

Good to see that you are all enjoying it

I played the game back on the Dreamcast, but I never finished it due to my file being erased and then finding out that the game was going to be released on the GCN. I'm currently putting Legends on hold until a later date cause I have other purchases I wish to make first... and of course there's the money and time constraint.

It was a great RPG on the DC. But had one major flaw... the random battles... there were just too many of them and too rampant. However, the good thing is that's the biggest flaw it had and Legends lowered the random battle ratio. So yeah... this game is definitely looking good

The story is quite clichéd at times but then again... I've seen so many clichés in video game storylines it's not really a surprising thing... although I still have my complaints I keep my vocalization about it to a minimal

Ian Sane · « **Reply #21 on:** February 03, 2003, 10:51:50 AM »

I've rented Skies for the week so I can write a sample review for it for a website (they want something at most two months old which is pretty dumb considering nothing ever comes out in January or December) and so far I like it a lot. The storyline isn't all dark and gloomy like most of Square's stuff and the hero is actually a HERO instead of a relunctant anti-hero which is a nice change of pace. One thing I really like about it is that the game is actually full 3D. So many RPGs are made with fixed camera angles which I find frustrating because I can't go whereever I want and it's difficult to determine what objects the characters can interact with.

My only real gripe is the random battles but I hate ALL random battles so that's more of a flaw with traditional RPG design than anything else. Realistically after playing the Chrono games and Super Mario RPG I think it's pretty silly for designers to expect me to accept random battles. There's no technical reason for them; all of the current consoles could easily handle the onscreen enemies. I don't think anyone could successfully argue that being blindly attacked out of nowhere is more fun then seeing the enemies and therefore having the option to fight or avoid them. Anyway mini-rant aside the rest of the game is good enough to deal with the random battles though I imagine if I ever played the Dreamcast version (which supposedly has more frequent battles) I would likely have given up on it. The ship battles on the other hand are a blast (no pun intended) and I really wish they were more common. It's pretty cool to see an RPG with different types of battles. Most games likely would have made ship battles the same as regular battles but with the ships as the characters.

Rellik · « **Reply #22 on:** February 03, 2003, 12:20:42 PM »

Grand Theft Airship: Vyse City

Ian, I'm surprised you're not liking it more. You're probably pretty early into it; later on, there'll be less random battles, and there'll be more you can do about them (get Aika's Lambda Blast as soon as possible!)

Remember, up until... well, you'll know it AFFIRMATIVELY when you finish the introduction. I wouldn't want to say so because it's kind of a spoiler... but its a pretty long introduction. You'll be way past the point where you have your fourth party member, so, that's not it.

You really do get used to the random battles. I would have liked non-random better too, but, that's the way it is, and it's really just as good. Just one piece of advice: when you hear the word "Delphinus" for the first time, that's your cue to start drooling madly!

Marufy007 · « **Reply #23 on:** February 03, 2003, 04:10:54 PM »

hi guys,

this is my first time posting here, but ive been reading the forums since last spring. i just dont like the ezboards so i never signed up. i used to frequent the nintendojo boards, but its just not the same anymore...

anyway, i just bought Skies the other day as well, unfortunatly due to 2 exams this week and a program i need to put together for my floor i RA, ive only been able to play the first boss battle. so far im impressed. ive heard nothing but good things from my friend who had it on Dreamcast. heres hoping Skies will pave the way for more classic RPG's for the cube.

Once i finish Suikoden 3, im sure i'll play the crap out of this game!

IllegalCheeser · « **Reply #24 on:** February 03, 2003, 04:52:15 PM »

Ahh.....Pirate's WRATH!!!!

What a cool move.

Oh, and to those of you tiring of random battles, get Lambda Burst with Aika, it elminates all the newbie enemies in one hit. Also, once you collect I think 9-10 Moonfish, give them to Doc, one of the prizes will be a White Map which lowers random battle rate signifigantly.

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Author Topic: Skies of Arcadia - best GC RPG (Read 24228 times)